Brotherly Love
by DoraeAzure
Summary: SS side fic. In the face of a thunderstorm, a protective older brother must learn that all little sisters eventually grow up. Just a sweet sibling moment. One-shot, revised


**Brotherly Love**

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters, objects, settings, and plots are the property of J.K. Rowling. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise associated with Harry potter. No copyright infringement is intended and no money is being made from the writing of this fanfiction.

Notes: Hello! I know this isn't a chapter of Seasonal Suffering, but this little plot hit me a few days ago (we were having a big storm) so I typed it up real quick (I didn't do it until after I'd finished chapter nine though, that's good enough right?). Anyway, this is a one-shot, and it's pre-Seasonal Suffering (though entirely unrelated, so no worries if you haven't read that yet). Enjoy!

**Chapter the only**

It was a dark and stormy night, with enough thunder and lightening to satisfy even the traditionalists among old fashioned scary story lovers, and Ron and Harry were studying.

"Ron, do you have the assignment for Defense? I forgot to write it down."

"Yeah. Hold on, let me find it." Ron dug around among the parchment in his bag until he found the one he was looking for and handed it to his friend. The green eyed boy accepted it and glanced out the window as yet another peal of thunder rattled the panes.

"It's really come down out there."

Ron absently made a noise of agreement, but his eyes were glued to the window too. _I hope Ginny's sleeping all right._ He hoped it but he doubted it. Ginny had an irrational fear of thunder. She always had. When she was younger, she used to come running into his room every time there was a storm. He never really understood why she had chosen him to be her protector—after all, he was the youngest of the six brothers she had to choose from—but he supposed it had something to do with their being so close. Because he understood her best, Ron was Ginny's favorite brother, and he took his responsibilities where Ginny was concerned very seriously. Sometimes a little too seriously, though Ginny had always been quick to protest if she felt he was hovering too much. But where storms were concerned, she not only expected his protection, she came looking for it.

_Ron lay in bed, half-asleep. He wished he was all the way asleep, but it was storming outside and the thunder had woken him. Not that he was afraid of it at all, but he knew Ginny was. Absently, Ron counted the minutes since he'd woken up and came up with ten. Hmm. Ginny should be in any second now. _

_Almost on que, Ron heard running feet on the stairs. Cautiously, his door creaked open and Ginny's hesitant voice reached his ears over the sound of the storm outside. _

"_Ron, are you asleep?" _

_The nine-year-old groaned and rolled over to look at his little sister, blinking groggily at her for form's sake. "No, Ginny," he told her, "not anymore."_

"_I'm scared." _

_Ron rolled his eyes, still playing the part of irritated older brother. Then he sighed and held his covers back for her. "Come here." Thunder rolled overhead and she squeaked, slamming his door shut and diving into the bed. He grunted as her elbow landed between his ribs._

"_Ow, Gin, careful!"_

"_Sorry, Ron." Her whispered voice was sincerely contrite and he sighed again. _

"_Just be still, okay?"_

"_Okay, Ron." She _was _still for while, and he was just beginning to think it was okay to go back to sleep when there was another peal of thunder. With another little screech, Ginny scooted up next to him and buried her head against his neck, her arms so tight around him that he could hardly breathe. But he didn't protest. Instead, he hugged her back._

"_It's okay, Ginny," he told her. "You're safe now, remember? I'm right here." _

_She sniffed lightly, but relaxed against him. "Thank you, Ron."_

"_Uh-huh." Ron shifted to a more comfortable position. "Go to sleep, Ginny."_

"_Okay." There was a long pause, and then, "I love you, Ron."_

_He smiled with his eyes closed. "I love you too, Gin."_

Almost as if the memory had conjured her, fifteen-year-old Ginny appeared suddenly at the top of the stairs. The two images blended so well, the present and the past, that it took Ron several seconds to realize she was really there. He smiled. She was seven years older now but some things never change. Then a crack of thunder ruined the moment, and Ginny came flying down the stairs… right into Harry's startled arms. Ron was startled too. This was the first storm in the entirety of Ginny's life (at least since she'd been old enough to walk) that she had not come running to him. What was going on?

"Gin, what?" Harry pulled back a little to see her face and she stared up at her boyfriend with wide eyes.

"I'm not very fond of thunder, Harry," she told him, huddling against his side.

Another crash of thunder and Ginny yelped, burying her face againt Harry's shoulder. He grinned.

"'Not very fond?' I think this's a little worse than 'not very fond' Gin."

"All right, I'm scared, happy now? Eep!" She jumped slightly as thunder sounded again. "Harry!" she screeched when he laughed.

"Okay, Gin, I'm sorry," the grinning boy ran a hand through his girlfriend's hair and hugged her gently. "There's nothing to be afraid of," he told her when she still refused to come out of hiding.

"Sure there is," she mumbled into his shirt, "there's lots of thunder." She paused long enough for another peal of thunder to prove her point. "See!"

"Ginny, I'm right here." Brown eyes peeped up at him. He smiled. "Come on, I've never failed you yet."

Ginny sat up and looked at him properly. "No you haven't. Thank you, Harry." She leaned forward and kissed him sweetly. "Doesn't mean I'm not scared though," she muttered under her breath, settling back against his shoulder. Still, she only cringed the next time thunder rolled above them. Harry sighed and tucked her up in the blanket she'd brought down with her.

"Just try to go to sleep."

"Okay."

Ron, who had been watching all of this in anxious silence, finally sat back with a sad smile. All her life, Ginny had depended on Ron, telling him all her problems and looking to him for protection. He had known that some day she wouldn't depend on him anymore and had secretly hoped that day was still a long way off. But that day was today, he realized, and he didn't want it to be. For fifteen years he had been her best friend and protector. It was hard to accept that she didn't need him anymore.

Still, Ron thought to himself, frowning, Harry was his best friend; there was no one on earth he trusted more. Who better to take care of his little sister?

Seeing that homework was something of a lost cause now, and sensing that things might get awkward if the couple on the couch noticed him, Ron stood and quietly walked behind the couch to the boys' staircase. He paused though, with one foot on the first stair, something like nostalgia holding him in place. He knew that leaving the room would mean the end of an era in both his life and Ginny's, and it was a milestone he was neither ready nor willing to pass. So he glanced back at her, unconsciously seeking some kind of acquiescence from the girl whom it had been his job to protect; to his surprise, she was already looking at him, her eyes peering back over Harry's shoulder. Her chin lifted slightly then and she smiled, that brilliant, wonderful little sister smile she reserved just for him.

Not for the first time, Ron found himself lost in the big brown eyes of the only person who had ever looked on him as a hero. The face they were set in had changed much over the years, but the adoring, love-filled gaze she turned on him was just the same. She may not need him to protect her anymore, he realized, but he need never worry about how much she loved him.

Unnecessarily, she told him anyway. 'I love you, Ron,' she mouthed, smile widening just so.

Ron couldn't help it, he smiled back. "I love you too, Gin," he mouthed in return. Feeling better, he turned back up the stairs.

Something akin to Ron's feelings stirring in her own heart, Ginny watched him go. Still, she continued to smile.

It was true that she no longer needed Ron's protection, she realized. But he would always be her hero.

SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSS

The end! Review, review.


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